"Sonia's Song" by Sonia Korn-Grimani

Available on Amazon

This book review is part of the author's blog tour with WOW-Women On Writing . Click here to visit Women On Writing for an interview with the author and a list of the different blogs that feature Sonia Korn-Grimani this month, along with many special features, including a sample of her music.

My Review:

     “Sonia's Song” is a memoir that will draw you in from the first sentence, I stand three feet six inches tall when I am declared an enemy of the German State, and keep you memorized until the last page. I was not convinced I would like this book when I signed on to do a review as part of the author's blog tour with Women On Writing (WOW) but I wanted to read it since I am a fan of memoir writing. I could not put the book down.

     The author's writing style makes the book easy to read with it's sharp dialog and tight descriptions. The subject is heart-wrenching, but beautifully and simply written. It is a small memoir, at 185 pages, with an additional four pages of photographs at the end. The book is also filled with photographs, which gives the reader a strong connection to the author and her family, as we see them as we read about them. I loved that about this book.

     My attention was focused on her years at the orphanage 'Le Joli Coin', where she and other children hide in plain sight as Catholic orphans. It is there her talent as a singer begins to emerge.

    “Singing daily in the choir offers me a sense of belonging that I need desperately. When I sing, I feel like I can reach God. This gives me a semblance of power – that I can beseech God in this way not t be ferocious toward the Jews. And, as the voices of our group harmonize, I don't feel so alone or scared.”

     Life at the orphanage is not easy, and Madame J., who inherited and runs 'Le Joli Coin', is a questionable character at best. The children went hungry, she was not a nurturing woman, but lives were saved. The author meets up with her again in 1961 and questions if she has mellowed after all these years.

    While robbed of a normal childhood, and faced with fear and horror, Sonia and her family survive to be reunited again. Their story does not end with the end of the War. Five years later the family still lives in limbo, and moves to Australia in the 1950s.

     Sonia's courtship with John, her future husband, lasts three years, until they finally decide to marry despite protests from parents. Her own children have the life she missed.

     The are four sections to the book, each a Verse, as in a song. Beautifully written and unforgettable, the author has shared her story of survival and hope, as well as a history of a period of time before, during, and after the Holocaust.

About the author:

     Sonia Korn-Grimani earned her doctorate in French literature and the teaching of foreign languages, and directed a multi-cultural language program at UNESCO. With her husband John, and their children Anthony and Renee, Sonia traveled and lived all over the world. She taught foreign languages at the university level, and performed frequently to the delight of audiences worldwide. In her album Cantos al Amor, Sonia sings in 16 languages.

     In 1989, Dr. Korn-Grimani was knighted Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes
Académiques, and in 1996 she was decorated Officier des Palmes Académiques.These decorations were awarded in recognition of her lifelong dedication to and promotion of French culture and language.
     Sonia continues to sing regularly at UNESCO events in France, and is
also frequently invited to share her Holocaust experiences as a guest speaker in high schools, universities, synagogues and churches.


About the book:

     In Troubled Times, a Song of Hope.

     At the age of seven, during Hitler's rise to power, Sonia Korn-Grimani was officially declared an enemy of the German State. After a perilous escape to the Belgian border, she witnessed the chaos and carnage of the Battle of Belgium. She lived with her family in the shadows, fleeing and hiding from persecution until being placed in an orphanage. There she lived with more than twenty other Jewish children, all disguised as a Catholic orphans, and all kept near starvation.       
     Sonia forged triumph out from these tragedies with unshakable tenacity and beguiling charm, a life chronicled in the new book Sonia's Song. She sang to the delight of audiences throughout the world, became an international sensation of radio and television, tutored French to a Queen, and was named a Chevalier by the French Government.      
    Sonia's Song follows this remarkable woman's transformation, starting from her childhood in Germany and Belgium in the 1930's and 40's, continuing post-war to Australia and Malaysia, and touching on her life in modern France and the Americas.

Visit the author's website.

Mary Gilmartin "Adventures With Easton, The Magical Journey"

Meet The Author

Decatur Book Signing

Eagle Eye Book Shop

SATURDAY – JULY 14, 2012- 1:00 PM

EAGLE EYE BOOK SHOP

2076 N. Decatur Road, Decatur, GA 30033

Available at Eagle Eye Book Shop after the book signing July 14, 2012

Author Mary Gilmartin talks about her debut children's book and her writing experiences today!

About my first book:

The main character, Easton, is what I love most about my book.  I enjoyed writing this book because it took me back to my own childhood.  I had my own adversities to overcome, just like he did in this story.  The beauty of traveling into a magical world created through the eyes of a nine year old when he falls asleep at night is one of the reasons why dreaming is exciting.  However in my story, Easton soon discovers that happiness is actually all around him and that’s when the real magical adventure begins. This is a book for all ages, especially the 9-12 year old.

Book review:

The author's first review was published in the Stone Mountain-Redan Patch, June 9, 2012. Read the full review online. An excerpt below.


Bradley Evans:  In Adventures with Easton, local author Mary Gilmartin takes the adult reader to a place that can only be remembered from dreams or memories. For young readers, it is a place of exciting mysteries, adventure and enjoyment.

About the author:

I live in Atlanta, Georgia near Stone Mountain even though I was born on a hundred acre farm in eastern Tennessee by a midwife. I spent my childhood growing up in the mountains of Western North Carolina before moving to the city.  During those years I was a tomboy who claims to have climbed the tallest tree and shot the straightest arrow.  Those formative years as a child competing against four brothers are great memories. I still have a scar on my left elbow when I fell off my oldest brother’s bicycle when I attempted to ride it backwards.

My life has been one non-stop spiraling journey that continues to excite me. Three years ago was a turning point in my life when I took a creative writing class at Emory University in Atlanta.  Then, suddenly, three months later I found myself unemployed due to the economy. I was no longer part of the corporate world.  That’s when I set up my own office in my home and seriously started writing.  Last year I finished writing a fictional story about a nine year old boy  overcoming his adversities.  My first book “Adventures with Easton, The Magical Journey” debuted this year on June 2, 2012. 

My writing technique: 
 

Most of my ideas for writing come from that exciting database stored inside my head. I sometimes wonder where my vivid imagination comes from, but actually I know.  I am an extremely visual person and can honestly say that I have never had writer’s block. I am inspired by life and everything around me. The stories I write sometimes want to write themselves. The words seem to flow onto the screen when I sit down in front of my computer and start writing. Typing is my preferred method for writing.  Sometimes I will write a story idea that comes to mind on a piece of scratch paper.  This usually gets transcribed, printed and filed to develop later. 

My advice for other writers:

My advice for those who love to write is to "finish" that one story you are passionate about first! That's exactly what I did last year when I selected a storyline about a nine year old I had started but pushed aside to start writing stories. Today, I am happy to say that it is finished and now a published book.

Visit Mary Gilmartin's website to learn more about the author.

Mary Gilmartin

Helen Ross "10 Yellow Bananas"

10 Yellow Bananas
Written by Helen Ross

Published  by Little Steps Publishing (Division of New Frontier) Released 2010.

Illustrations by Dee Texidor

AboutThe Book:

Excerpt from review by Megan Blandford on Kids Book Review.

 "Ten yellow bananas, clutching teddy bears, race through the doorway, then nine sleepy pears..." So begins the story of ten different fruits involved in a frantic, crazy chase. Led by the ten yellow bananas who stole the nine pears' teddy bears, we follow them as they gather lemons, apples, cherries, pineapples, kiwi fruit, grapes, watermelons and one little berry. But watch out for the near-disaster at the end!


With Helen Ross' signature of laugh-out-loud, clever rhymes, this book takes children on a reverse-counting escapade that should come with a warning: kids will want it read to them over and over and over again. The other beauty of the story is the educational aspect. Young children will love naming the different fruits, and as they grow older they will recognise the colours and then begin counting with you.

The cover is completely irresistible to any child, with its bright colours and beautifully expressive fruit faces. And this follows right through the book, adding to the charm of the rhyme and the pace and fun of the adventure.  






Helen Ross

Why I wrote it:

The first run of verses tumbled into my head in 1993. At the time, I was a secretary and was answering a client’s phone call when the bananas charged into my brain followed by some pears singing a giggly rhyme.

After 13 years of sitting in my ‘ideas’ box, alongside other poems, I decided to self publish Ten Yellow Bananas (note original title) as I felt this story would appeal to young children. Sales of this 2006 published book were great but I knew it needed more commercial appeal/a peel – pardon the pun.  Literally hundreds of rewrites were carried out as part of Dr Virginia Lowe’s writing for children e-course.

As I wanted to keep my rights, I forwarded my manuscript to Little Steps Publishing, whereupon they offered me a partnership publishing contract.



Read about the book, learn more about Helen Ross, and illustrator Dee Texidor on 10 Yellow Bananas Cyber Launch.

   

What you may not know about me:

At home, I sometimes wear a silly pink wig – for fun!



More about Helen:


Helen Ross is an Australian published children's author, an award winning children’s poet, freelance writer-photographer, and blogger. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and their beloved pets.

 



Also by Helen Ross


To read more about Helen check out her website and blog Helen Ross writes.

Purchase Books:

Booktopia

Redhen

author's site

Helen Ross writes is a permanent link in our Book Talk Favorite Links series.

'Book Talk' Favorite Blog Link Series Launches Today With Helen Ross, Australian Children's Author

'Book Talk' Favorite Blog Link Series

Between our regular author/book posts 'Book Talk' will link to some great author/writing blog sites that we think are great and want to share with our readers!

We kick off this series with Helen Ross in Australia

Helen Ross is an Australian published children's author, an award winning children’s poet, freelance writer-photographer, and blogger. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and pets.


Look for Helen on Book Talk soon. Check out her lovely wesite/blog and see how they do things 'down under'!